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| June 22, 2006 | Thursday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 25, 1427 |
‘Ghana can fly African flag’
NUREMBERG, June 21: Brimming with confidence after dismantling the Czech Republic, Ghana coach Ratomir Dujkovic was convinced his side could beat the United States in Thursday's decider and go far in the World Cup.
“I'm an optimist,” Dujkovic told reporters on Wednesday. “I still believe that the Ghana Black Stars will reach the semi-final.”
Group E still remains to be decided. Italy lead on four points, the Czechs and Ghana are second on three while the US have one.
Ghana turned their fortunes around after being brushed aside by Italy in their opener, 2-0, only to come back in style to defeat the highly regarded Czechs 2-0
“Of course, we'll be thinking about the match between the Czech Republic and Italy,” he said.
“But if the Black Stars continue to play football at this level, I'm not worried at all (about the other teams in the group).”
The World Cup debutants have never faced the US who are coming off a gritty 1-1 draw with Italy on Saturday.
“We have analysed the US team, received our information (from scouts) and watched them play on DVD and live,” said Dujkovic.
“But we're not overly worried about them. We have a strong team and we can face any team in the tournament at the moment.”
The US and Ghana each miss two players through suspension; the States will be without midfielder Pablo Mastroeni and defender Eddie Pope and Ghana lose forward Asamoah Gyan and midfielder Sulley Muntari, who each scored against the Czechs.
Forward Stephen Appiah said the Black Stars are playing to make Ghana and Africa proud and missing players was not an issue.
“We want to show the world who we are,” he told reporters.
“We're going to miss them (suspended players) but our roster is 23 strong and all the guys are ready to die for the nation,” he said.—Reuters
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